| 1 | Phalotris shawnella |
This colourful snake was discovered purely by accident, as scientists dug into sandy soils 500 metres away from a lake in Paraguay. To their shock, they unearthed a vivid red snake.
The scientists immediately identified the species as belonging to the 18-member Phalotris genus, which all live in South America and are mildly venomous. But there were several characteristics that didn’t gel with pre-existing species. The snake below their feet had a dull red head, and a cleanly separated yellow collar curling around its entire neck. The snake was a new species, and they dubbed it Phalotris shawnella.
So far, Phalotris shawnella is known from the cerrado forests of San Pedro department, eastern Paraguay. By the official announcement in 2022, it was confirmed in two locations: Colonia Volendam and Laguna Blanca, around 90km apart. In both locations, Phalotris shawnella was found in sandy soils. The new species had parallel red and black stripes lower down on its body, with a particularly thin head, which sharpened continually until reaching a point of a nose.
With this discovery, the Phalotris genus of snakes grew to 19 members. The herpetologists quickly discovered a liking for lizards, as one of the new snakes (a female) greedily gobbled up a Gymnophthalmid lizard and red-tailed vanzosaur when offered. Unfortunately, this snake then outsmarted them and managed to escape.
| 2 | Salazar’s pitviper |
This snake had the honour of being named after Salazar Slytherin from the Harry Potter series, the founder of Hogwarts’ Slytherin house in the deep past, who had the ability to speak the snake language Parseltongue.
In 2019, scientists were exploring the Pakke Tiger Reserve in India’s northernmost state, Arunachal Pradesh. The first individual was spotted by Pushkar Phansalkar, resting on a cluster of creepers by the side of the road. It looked like a Trimeresurus species, a huge pitviper group consisting of at least 40 members, but had an unusual rusty-red line on its face. Further analysis would reveal different amounts of teeth to its cousins.
The scientists announced the discovery of a new snake: Salazar’s pitviper, or Trimeresurus salazar. This was probably the most intimidating new snake of the last ten years, with vertical pupils and a crafty, knowing expression. Its body consisted of various juicy shades of green, which even covered its eyes.
The new species was found to be most closely related to the Nepal pitviper (Trimeresurus septentrionalis), which exists at higher altitudes. Salazar’s pitviper, meanwhile, is found at lower levels (the first was found at 172 metres), so it’s possible that the two species occupied separate islands of altitude, allowing them to evolve in separate directions.
| 3 | Suzhen’s krait |
A snake discovery which began with a death. In 2001, respected herpetologist Joseph B. Slowinski was killed by a serpent in northern Myanmar, which most assumed to have been a many-banded krait (Bungarus multicinctus). From 2016 to 2019, researchers returned and scoured this mountainous region, and discovered that the murderous snake was actually a new species altogether.
The black and white bands were less neat and tidy than in Bungarus multicinctus, the number of bands varied, and the teeth were clearly differently shaped. In 2021, the Suzhen’s krait (Bungarus suzhenae) was officially born into the world. While innocuous in appearance, this was the deadliest new snake species in some time, possessing a similar venom toxicity to its close relative the many-banded krait.
It was a grisly beginning for the new snake, yet its name was the opposite. Suzhenae references Bai Su Zhen, the snake goddess of Chinese legend, who became immortal and married a human, and stood for the values of medicine, healing and true love.
Like its krait cousins, Bungarus suzhenae operates at night, and often enters human dwellings in search of food. Its realm is southwestern China and northern Myanmar, often in rice fields and monsoon forests, at altitudes of 800 to 1500 metres.
| 4 | Waray dwarf burrowing snake |
A snake which went unnoticed because of its burrowing lifestyle. Levitonius mirus was first discovered in the Philippines forests of Samar and Leyte in 2006. Another was found in 2007, but soon after, both were stashed away in the archives of the University of Kansas.
For years, the two samples remained hidden in plain sight, with nobody realising that they represented an entirely new species. Instead, they were believed to be part of Pseudorabdion, another burrowing snake group.
Only a reexamination in 2014 proved that the snakes were unique, and never discovered before. Not only that, but they belonged to an entirely new genus: Levitonius. The Waray dwarf burrowing snake, AKA Levitonius mirus, was just 6.7 inches long, about the size of a pencil. It had glistening, toffee brown scales, with a creamy white belly.
Its behaviour was more like an earthworm than a snake, forging underground tunnels, and only surfacing after heavy rains. People had probably been walking over its head for years, including the local Waray people of Samar Island who it was named after.
Fittingly, the mirus part of its Latin name translated to “unexpected”. The new species had classic burrowing features such as smooth scales and small eyes, but a rare feature was that its scales were spaced slightly apart, so that skin was clearly visible between them.
| 5 | Weipa bandy-bandy |
Another new snake which was discovered completely by accident. Scientists were trudging in from a hard day of sea snake research, on the Cape York Peninsula of far northern Australia. Out of nowhere, they suddenly spotted a black and white striped snake, sitting on a concrete block.
This snake immediately appeared to be a bandy-bandy, part of the small Vermicella genus. The most widespread member of this group is the eastern bandy-bandy, which lives near Sydney and preys heavily on blind snakes. The Vermicella genus had 5 members overall, with the other members being much more obscure.
The scientists wondered why the snake was so close to sea, and decided that it had slithered over a pile of bauxite rubble waiting to be loaded onto a ship. The snake looked different to known bandy-bandys, and when they returned to Cape York in 2016, they spotted the weird snake again.
The scientists leapt at the opportunity, and traced the snake’s origins to the mining town of Weipa. There, they found 5 new specimens, and proved it to be an all-new species. It was dubbed the Weipa bandy-bandy, or Vermicella parscauda.
Elation then turned to worry, as bauxite mining was a booming industry near the snake’s newly discovered habitat. Heavy mining equipment tearing up the landscape could spell ruin for this snake in the future, not long after its first discovery. There may be a good reason why this snake has barely been observed so far.
| 6 | 5 snail-eating snakes (South America) |
In 2018, scientists announced the fruits of 2 lengthy expeditions to Peru and Ecuador. They had discovered 5 completely new species of snail-sucking snakes, in thick rainforests drenched with rainfall and barely inhabited by human beings.
Alejandro Arteaga looked out of his window while driving down a muddy track, and saw a strange blue-eyed snake in the undergrowth. Its body was pale yellow with rusty brown patches, and it turned out to be a completely new species, which was later dubbed Sibon bevridgelyi (pictured above).
Most snail-eating snakes live in forests, sticking to bushes or branches 50cm to 3 metres above ground. Their jaws are flexible and unusually shaped, designed for hooking onto soft snails in their shells and sucking them free. This process can take several minutes to complete.
The names of the new snakes were auctioned off in New York City, to raise money for conservation – any average Joe could have had a species named after him. One was called Dipsas bobridgelyi after conservationist Bob Ridgley, while Sibon bevridgelyi was named after his late father.
The former was the most endangered of the 5 new species, having been detected in just four disjointed patches of forest, with only 2 inside protected areas. The scientists extracted DNA samples from nearly 100 museum snakes in order to confirm the snakes as new species.
| 7 | Ghost snake |
The Madagascan ghost snake saga began in 2016, when scientists were searching for a rare snake called Alluaudina mocquardi. The species had originally been spotted on wild limestone rock formations, and it required a 25km hike to reach the old site.
Seven days the researchers spent there, in pouring rain. As they were following a path across the limestone rocks, a master’s student called Bernard Randriamahatantsoa bent down and picked something up.
It was a pale snake, which bore no close resemblance to any known snake. Genetic testing was ordered, and the pale snake was soon revealed to be a whole new species, called Madagascarophis lolo.
The new snake had big, bulbous eyes with a crusty colouring. Its body was pale white, which led to the colloquial name of ghost snake. This wasn’t an entirely new group, as Madagascarophis is a sizeable Madagascan genus of snakes, with Madagascarophis colubrinus being discovered in 1837.
The ghost snake is believed to be endemic to just two natures reserves in Madagascar: the Analamerana and Ankarana Reserves. This time, there was a logical reason why nobody had spotted them before. Ghost snakes not only dwell in treacherous karst rock formations, but they’re mostly nocturnal, meaning that sensible locals would have never treaded near them at the right time, out of fear of falling to their deaths. As for their original goal, the team successfully rediscovered Alluaudina mocquardi as well.
| 8 | Instagram snake |
Our next section is a little different, as it concerns a snake which was discovered, announced as a new species, before being reabsorbed into an existing species a couple of years later. It started in 2020, when Virendar Bhardwaj was bored during India’s COVID-19 lockdown. He began a new hobby of exploring his local wildlife, and in his Himalayan hometown of Chamba, there was plenty to see.
In June 2020, Bhardwaj uploaded a beige and black snake with glassy black eyes and a small head, and a pale pink tongue. He thought nothing of it, and proudly displayed the photo on Instagram – until watchful scientists took notice. The snake was clearly a member of the huge Oligodon genus of kukri snakes, named for their brutal curved teeth, but with subtle differences.
The team marched over to Chamba and captured a male and female snake. The scientists conducted a detailed analysis, and announced the discovered of an all-new snake – Oligidon churahensis, after the Chura Valley the village of Chamba lay in. Apparently, it was closely related to Russell’s kukri snake, which was more widespread in India, but had higher numbers of dark crossbars on its body.
This story made a large media splash, as the first new snake species discovered via Instagram. For 2 years, the Chura Valley kukri snake enjoyed the limelight as an entirely new species.
All that changed in 2023, when scientists conducted genetic analysis of various kukri snakes. Included were Russell’s kukri snake and the Chura Valley kukri snake, and surprisingly, the two only had a 3.3% genetic separation between them, which is well within species range. For example, the Dumeril’s kukri snake of Sri Lanka was separated from Oligodon churahensis by a far larger 21%.
The scientists discovered errors in the initial report, finding that the number of dark crossbars had been miscounted. They found few consistent physical differences between Oligodon churahensis and Russell’s kukri snake.
It became official – the new species was no more. Three years after its discovery, Oligodon churahensis had been reabsorbed back into Russell’s kukri snake. At best, it may have been a Himalayan subspecies.
| 9 | Zugs’ odd-scaled snake |
The thick jungles of Vietnam are under just as much threat as the Amazon rainforest, with logging slicing down more tree coverage every day. In 2013, scientists arrived in Guang Zi Dong province, on the border with China. Their mission was simple: to explore the country’s vast uncharted wildlife, before undiscovered species completely disappeared without anybody having ever known about them.
The scientists spent their days exploring creeks and creek beds, until they spotted a strange-looking adult male snake. It measured 45.8cm, and was obviously a burrower, with a narrow head.
The most interesting thing was the snake’s iridescent scales. At first, the new snake seemed to be a dull brown, but under a bright light, its scales shone with blue and green. Its iridescence didn’t match the sunbeam snake of Thailand, but was in the same ballpark. The scales were also rough (keeled) and didn’t overlap, revealing skin between them.
The snake clearly belonged to the odd-scaled snake genus (Achalinus), a known group, but one of the most poorly researched in southeast Asia. The genus had 13 species, with 7 known in Vietnam, and now they had found a 14th. The iridescent burrower was dubbed Zug’s odd-scaled snake, or Achalinus zugorum.
| 10 | Uropeltis bhupathyi |
The Western Ghats are a mountain range of southwest India, which reach a maximum elevation of 2695 metres. The Anaikatti hills are a sub-region within them, and in 2008, a strange, chocolatey brown snake was discovered, with the classic burrowing features of a small, narrow head and beady black eyes.
At first, the snake was wrongly judged to be a Uropeltis ellioti, or Elliot’s earth snake. It was discovered by Subramaniam Bhupathy, one of India’s most respected snake experts, but after he died in a tragic mountainside accident in 2014, his student V.J. Jins returned to finish his work. In 2018, Jins discovered that the snake was still a Uropeltis member, but different enough to be its own species – Uropeltis bhupathyi.
The belly scales were one noticeable difference, as Uropeltis ellioti had 167, while the new snake had over 200. It had a broader, longer head, and DNA analysis revealed a clearly separate gene pool. The new snake was non-venomous, and completely non-aggressive. When picked up, it curled around the scientists’ hands rather than biting.
We’re back to a familiar story: Uropeltis bhupathyi was missed because of its shy, burrowing nature, only emerging from its underground labyrinths during annual heavy rains. Who knows what other hidden snakes people have been walking over?